Cheesecake... No Longer a Mystery... Well, Not Exactly

Now that Christmas is over I can breathe again for the moment.  I had fun and did a few things over the last month.

From my last post you all know I got to make my first wedding cake.  This was a great experience and truthfully I hope to get another opportunity.  So, anyone out there in the local area.... (hint, hint).

This Christmas I was planning on making homemade gift baskets for some of my and my husband's co-workers, but there was a slight change of plans.  His office decided to do and old fashion cookie swap, which he joyfully volunteered my services.  How nice of him.  Now this was beyond his control, they did change the date of the swap and I had only a day to bake 3 dozen cookies.  No big deal, I had most of what I needed to make my Monster Cookies.  Then for me, work very busy and I didn't have the time to make too many things.  So, I went with Monster Cookies for all my gift baskets.  They were a huge hit with my daughter's teachers.  A big enough hit that one of her teachers order a chocolate cheesecake for Christmas.

This was my adventure..... making a cheesecake.  I had never made one before.  The closest I came to making a cheesecake was making a pie.  I never owned a spring form pan until now.  As much as I love using new toys, I was a little afraid of this one.  The one thing I was not sure about getting the bottom of the pan off.  I was actually stumped on this one.  I tried to find an episode of Good Eats on Food Network that I had seen, but was unable to find it.  So, I dove in and made the first cake.

Not too bad.

It eventually came off after fighting with a knife.

Lucky for me the crust thick and no one noticed the thinner spots. Overall the cake was great.

Round 2.... thought I would try some preventive measures.

No such luck.

Cake broke in half.

Well, I can at least say this much... I conquered the making of the cheesecake, but not the removal of one.

I need to back to the kitchen I guess.  I am not complaining.

So, until next time...... Happy Baking!

The Wedding Cake

I can finally say I made my first wedding cake.  Here it is.....

I know it isn't too elaborate or anything, but I like to think it is pretty good.

I made this cake for a co-worker.  She just got married on December 10th.  She decided to have a very small intimate wedding.  She had no plans of having a cake at the reception.  I, of course, could not let that happen.  Every woman needs a cake at he wedding.  So, I decided to make her her cake anyway.

With getting married a few weeks before Christmas, she was having a Christmas/Winter themed wedding.  With that in mind, I started thinking of winter type things to decorate with.  I really wanted to make snowflakes, but was unable to find a snowflake cutter or anything that looked like one on such short noticed.  So, I thought stars was the next best things.  This was my inspiration.  It was from Wilton.com ......

I know, it isn't exactly the same, but that I wasn't trying for that.  I just wanted an idea.  The inspiration cake is done completely in fondant, where I iced the cake in buttercream and only the stars are made from fondant. I covered the stars in a blue and silver pearl dust. (This was actually very fun to do).  It was also my first time working with fondant.  After getting over my initial fear of it, I really like working with it and can really see the potential of using it.  I hope to get the chance to use it again.

I had real fun making this cake and it was great seeing J's face when she saw it.  She was happy and I was glad to bring a little extra happiness to her on her special day.

I know I have bee talking about doing a few different with my blog and haven't done anything.  But, I finally have what I want to do, so look for some new fun things after the New Year.  

Until next time....... Happy Baking!

I think I did it!

After I started this blog I had tried something new for me.  I made cinnamon rolls completely from scratch. (If you want to check out the old post here it is  http://sweettreatsandmore-colleen.blogspot.com/2010/09/tried-something-new.html ) In my opinion I did not think I was very successful.  Overall, the rolls were good, but I knew they could be better.  I know I am my on worst critic, but even hubby agreed then weren't my best.  I had pretty much figured out what was wrong.... it was the yeast.  Those little suckers just didn't produce the gas they were suppose to.

I did try again not to long ago with not much better results.  They still tasted great but could have been a lot better.  This time instead of being chewy they were much more dense and heavy.  Cinnamon rolls are not suppose to be heavy.  Again, the culprit was the yeast.  I was starting to think this little ingredient was doing it on purpose just to drive me crazy. (Yes, I do believe that inanimate objects do things to annoy me)  I was about to give up trying until.....

Last week co-worker and I were talking about my baking.  She kept bugging me to make cinnamon rolls for her.  I was very hesitant because of my first two failed attempts, but after about a week I thought, "What the heck I need to try again."  So, I did.  Here is the result....

I think MUCH better this time!

YAY!  SUCCESS!!  I beat those little suckers!  The battle was long and hard, but in the end I won!  (Ok, I know a little over the top, but I am happy)  Actually, in the end I just used a completely different recipe then the first two.  Everyone that had one today said they were great.  I guess I can add another the the win column.

Until next time...... Happy Baking!

An Even Newer Adventure

About two weeks ago, my sister-in-law made a very interesting Facebook status update.  I had known she was working with a some people on a collaboration for a website.  What I didn't know was there had been some creative differences and the founders parted ways.  Well,  that didn't stop my spunky sister-in-law and her cohorts.  They decided to start a new collaboration.  And by some strange stroke of luck, I am now a part of this brain child.  Today is the official launch date of Off The Deep End. I think it is a perfect name.  I don't know all of my co-workers as of yet.  (I guess you can call us that.)  But, I know that will change very soon.  We all come from different walks of life and have different views on the world.

I hope you will come check us out over at www.off-the-deep-end.net. I will be making my first post over there next Monday.  I will have a post there every week. So, please stop by, roam around, take a look at things, sit for a spell, and enjoy yourself!  You won't be disappointed!

Until next time..... Happy Baking!

Homemade Gift Baskets

I was reminded by my daughter's iTouch just the other day that it was only 95 days until Christmas.  (Still not sure if getting that Countdown to Christmas app was a good idea or not)  But that aside it did get me thinking about a few things.  I know trying to start my own home business is a relatively new adventure for me, but I have been baking for several years.  Many of friends, family and co-workers have had the misfortune pleasure of trying out many different baked goods over the years.  A few years ago I did make up a few gift baskets for my husband's co-workers and office staff.  I wanted to do it again this years, but I am actually at a lost at what to make.  I know I know, that must sound strange, but it is true.  I know I could always make old standbys like chocolate chip cookies, brownies, gingerbread and other typical holiday things.  But there is nothing typical about me.  Is that good or bad?  Anyway.....  what to bake, what to bake?

I now know I will be scanning the websites looking for different things, hoping to find a few things new to try.  Of course I need to narrow my search.  I need to look for things that are individual, like cookies. or things that can be easily divided like loaves of bread.  I also really don't want to to make things I made before.  Before I made Rocky Road Brownies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Individual Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Peanut Butter Blossoms and Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies.

I did make a post on Facebook asking for some suggestions.  I know not everyone reads that, so that is why I am writing this post.  I hoping to may be reach a few more people that might be willing to help with my dilemma.  I am open to any ideas you may have.

Until next time...... Happy Baking!

Cake Pops? Is this a possible avenue?

This is a book I have seen at several times over the last few weeks.  It is titled "Cake Pops: Tips,Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Different Mini Treats", by Bakerella also known as Angie Dudley.  

I walked by it many times a night.  It would call to me... "Come look at me.  You know want to".  I resisted for many many days before I even picked up the book.  Well, I finally did look at it.  All I have to say is..... OMG!

The pictures on the cover hardly scratch the surface.  They had general ideas and also holiday specific ones.  There may only be 40 ideas in the book, but I already had many others going through my head.  I never thought that cake pops like this was even possible.  I had always thought the best I could do was dipped the cake into chocolate or candy coating and then sprinkles with nuts/ sugar candies...etc.

Now, I can't help but think is this something I can do?  Is is as labor intensive as it looks?  Is there an untapped market for these things?  If I am capable of this could I make money doing this?  Of course there are many more questions running through my head.

I am crazy, right?  Please tell me I am crazy.  I know I must be crazy.  I must be to be writing a blog about cake pops.  Then again.....

Until next time..... Happy Baking!

Monster Cookies and More Microphone Cupcakes

This week I got to two orders.  One was for microphone cupcakes and the second was for Monster Cookies.  I won't go into much about the cupcakes since I have already had two post about them.  In case you want too here are the links to those posts.... http://sweettreatsandmore-colleen.blogspot.com/2011/01/microphone-cupcakes-and-other-things.html and the other http://sweettreatsandmore-colleen.blogspot.com/2011/03/microphone-cupcakes.html .  I didn't do anything different from the other time I made them.  The only difference was the cake that was used.  The request this time was for a yellow/chocolate cake. Because of being cupcake I was unable to do a true marble cake.  I had to just layer them.

I think it work out good.  I do have some left over batter and plan on making a marble cake with it.  I'll show it to you after I make it.

The other thing I made for this weekend was Monster Cookies.  Some may be saying.. "What are those?"  Well, I'll tell you.  They are a little bit of everything.  They are chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal cookies combined.  The main added thing is mini candy coated chocolates..( psst that is a fancy way of saying M&Ms).  You could add anything else you you wanted like raisins or nuts.  This time I added pecans.  They are definitely a cookie that would cover what ever you had a taste for.

They description I was given by the customer, "They are da bomb!"

I will be doing baking for myself this upcoming week.  First I am going to try the marble cake for myself.  Then also this will be my last week working overnights.  So, I thought I would be very nice to my fellow co-workers and bake them something nice.  Just need to come up with something.

Until next time........ Happy Baking!

Sugar Cookie Cutouts

Today I finished baking 4 dozen sugar cookies.  I know you are thinking that isn't  a whole lot of cookies.  Normally I would agree with you since when I just bake for fun that is what do on average but, not this time.  This time they were cut-out sugar cookies.  Still not usually a big deal with all the types of cookie cutters out there.  And again I would usually agree, but I was not able to get a cutter in time for what I needed.  But, thanks to a fellow baker and friend, I was told what I could do.  She suggested just making a plastic template and then using a knife to cut them out.  The process took some time, but I like to think the results turned out rather well.  You tell me.....

Sugar Cookie cut into the shape of a Fleur de Lis.  Sprinkled with yellow and blue sugar crystals.

These were made for a beginning of the year Boy Scout meeting that takes place tomorrow.  I will let you know what everyone thought.

Thanks again, I Heart Sprinkles, for helping me with my cookies cutter dilemma.

I have more cookies and cupcakes to make for this upcoming weekend.  But, I will tell you about them later.

Until next time....... Happy Baking!

Doing things for fun!

I have not had any orders recently which to a part is good because I have been working overnights the few weeks.  But, I did do some things for fun.

I currently work with a small group of people.  We are part of a bigger team, but because we work overnight we tend to miss some of the fun things going on during the day.  So, I decided to be nice and bake some things.

The first thing I did was make my famous chocolate cookies.  I hate to sound egoistical, but they were a hit.  I wanted to try something new.  It needed to be easy to bring in and also easy to divide up.  I thought about it for a bit and realized that I haven't really made any muffins.  I knew that was the answer.  The decision was made Applesauce Muffins it was.  Here is the link to the recipe that I used http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mothers-applesauce-muffins/detail.aspx .

A co-worker also had a birthday recently.  I made him a chocolate two layer cake with chocolate fudge buttercream icing.  The icing came out a little pudding like, but worked very well.  I plan on making a black forest cake for another co-worker.  I think that will be fun since I have never made that before either. I promise I will have pictures of that.

I don't have any details yet for either of them, but I will have an order for my microphone cupcakes and some cookies.  I'll let you know when I know.  If nothing else the cupcakes will make me write another post about how to transport them.

Until next time...... Happy Baking!!

PS... Only 5 days until in is completely legal to sell baked goods made in your home in the state of Texas.

Got to do something special

Some of you may or may not know, but because due some changes in my life I need to go back to work a few months ago. It was suppose to be a temporary thing, but a always life sometimes throws you a curve. Even though I didn't need to continue working I did. Several things came because of this. I have made some great friends and also have gotten some great customers. Recently the place I am working started to remodel its store. I was asked to make a cake and cupcakes to celebrate the start of this occasion. I of course was honored that my boss thought of me for this. I happily accepted. I had to make a 9 x 15 cake and 8 dozen cupcakes in 4 days. I knew that this was going to be a challenge but I knew I could do it. Half of the cupcakes were chocolate with chocolate buttercream icing and they were made to look like footballs.

The other half of the cupcakes were yellow cake with buttercream icing.  The cake was also yellow and made to look like a football field. I also used buttercream icing to decorate.

What do you think?

I have been thinking about doing some posts of how I do things, where get my ideas, websites I use, and about other baking news out there.  Any thoughts?  I am trying to expand my horizons.  I hope it works.

Until next time....... Happy Baking!

Happy Birthday! Ok it is a little late!

Today's post comes to you from Orlando, FL.  Yes, that is right Disney.

My daughter's birthday was about a month ago.  I was able to use a new toy that I had received for Christmas.  It is is a cake pan that is adjustable.  I am able to make every letter of the alphabet both upper and lower case as well as any number. I won't lie I had large dreams of making six cakes and spelling out my daughter's entire name, but of course life and reason finally set in before it was too late. I ended up making just one cake and two dozen cupcakes.  Both were strawberry margarita cake because they were PINK.  Pink was the theme for this cake,.  I was specifically asked for pink cake with pink icing and pink sprinkles.  This was the result of that request:

I think it works.  What do you think?

The cake was not as a specific of a request.  The only thing that was asked for was that is was a pink cake.  So, like the cupcakes I used strawberry margarita cake.  I used buttercream icing which I colored pink and purple.  The cake itself I did in the shape of a four.

Both were a big hit at the party.  Many thought the 4 idea was great.  I think it was too.  I can't wait to try that pan again.

Until next time....... Happy Baking!







Finally Becoming Official!

This post is going to be a little different then my normal posts.  I have been trying not to say much about it, but now I feel like I can.  Up until yesterday it was illegal for home bakers like myself to make things in their home kitchens and sell them.  I was not aware of this when I started this adventure last summer.  A few friends informed me and let me now of a group called the Texas Baker's Bill.  Their sole job was to help get a bill passed into law that would allow us home bakers to do the one thing we loved doing.... baking and make some money from it.  When I first joined the group several months ago, there were actually two bills trying to make it through the process.  One of them never it out of committee to come up for a vote.  The second made it further.  It did make to the floor for a vote and was passed.  After that it went to committee that regulates the Health Department.  Unfortunately, the bill died there because of one city.... Houston.  It seemed that in this case money seemed to talk more then the best interest of the people.  All was thought to be lost until Rep. Lois Kolhorst added an amendment to SB 81 on May 24th, 2011.  This gave us hope again.  There were some hurdles still over come, but this time around there seemed to much more open support.  The amendment was approved and the bill was passed on to its final vote.  That final vote came on May 28th, 2011.  Then both the House and Senate signed the bill on May 29th allowing the bill to be put in front of the governor on May 29th.  Now the waiting begun.  Three things could happen.... One: the governor could sign the bill.... Two: the governor could veto the bill..... Third: the governor do nothing and the bill would automatically become law on June 19th, 2011.  Of course our main concern was that he not veto the bill.  I will admit for a person who studied politics and history in college, I never became very involved in the political process, but this time I did.  I wrote letter to the governor and actually called him also.  I want to believe my voice made a difference because on June 18th, 2011, Governor Rick Perry signed SB 81 into law.  Now all of those home bakers that have not been baking in their home kitchens (cough cough) can officially start on September 1st, 2011.  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to thank everyone out there who has supported me and others like myself in our struggle.  I hope you continue that support and keep buying those HOME-baked goodies.

Until next time....... Happy Baking!

Graduation Cakes

I was lucky enough in the last two weeks to be able to make two graduation cakes for a wonderful person. The first one I told you a little about before.  It was the newspaper design that I came up with.  The graduation girl loved it and even asked if I was making the cake for her party that was on a later date.  So, that is where Cake #2 comes in.  First here is the Newspaper Cake:

It is a red velvet cake with buttercream icing.

This cake was actually very fun to make, except for the red food coloring.  (Anyone who has worked with red food coloring in anything should know what I mean.)  It was very exciting to see what I had sketched on paper come to life.  All the decorations on the cake are done in icing except for the graduation cap which was done in yellow chocolate.

The second cake was much simpler.  It only needed to half the size of the first one and didn't need to red velvet.... (thank god!)  Did I mention, red food coloring and I are not getting along at the moment?  Anyway here is the second cake....

This is a Vanilla White Cake with buttercream icing.

As you can see this is a much simpler cake then the first.  Just like the first one, I made the cap and diploma of out white chocolate.  To make the cap black while the chocolate was still melted I covered it in black sugar crystals.  I also got play a new toy that I bought.  It was the letters.  I know my writing is not the greatest, so I knew I needed some help in that department.  I bought a letter press.  I am able to create any word with the letters and then just press them into the icing.  Then use the impressions as a guide to your writing.  I think I did pretty well, if I say so myself.  I can't wait to try it out again.

My next big project will be for my daughter's 4th birthday.  I still have several ideas running around in my head, so I can't really tell you much yet. But, I promise I will tell and show you all.

Until next time....... Happy Baking!

Snoopy Cake

All went well with the Snoopy Cake for the most part.  After two different cakes and two different icings, it was finally made.  Here is the finished product:

The cake was a vanilla white with buttercream icing.  

I know you must be wondering what happened.  Well, I like to think you are wondering what happened.  Even if you aren't I am going to tell you anyway.  I ended up making  two cakes and two different icings.

The first cake came together very well and baked with no problem.  So, I didn't think much of it.  Well, even the best bakers have goofs.  I turned the cake out of the pan to finish cooling on the rack.  Let's just say half the cake didn't want to leave its warm home of the pan.  The cake tasted great, it just wasn't in one piece.  So, my daughter's teachers got vanilla cake pops dipped in milk chocolate as an end of the year thank you gift.  Hey, I couldn't let a good cake go to waste. Back to the mixer I went.  The second cake was nice and came out its home.  So, I am thinking.... Phew, all good..... WRONG!

I thought I would make a whipped icing instead of my normal buttercream because I wanted Snoopy to be a brighter white.  Stupid me.... I need to learn to stay with I do best.  For whatever reason, the whipped icing did not want to set up right nor no matter how much sweet I added to it, it never tasted right.  Needless to say, I ended up making my buttercream icing instead.  

In the end all was good and Snoopy went to a good home.  He was loved by all.

As a small side note I did start writing this entry on May 30.  Sorry I got a little side tracked with another cake I was making and forgot to finish.  But, it is here now.  And very soon I will have two cakes to write about.

Until next time....... Happy Baking!

Things are looking good!

I recently had many good things happen to me in just last few days.  About 3 months ago some of you may remember I made a Transformer birthday for someone I worked with.  At the time I was hoping for some big things to happen, but not much did.  Little did I know that  the proverbial ball did start rolling it just took to now to catch me.

I had another co-worker ask me to make her daughter's graduation cake.  This time it is completely my own design.  She needed a relativity large cake.  So, I came up with the idea of making in look like the front page of a newspaper.  It will have headlines and pictures.  Don't worry I will post the pictures after it is made.  So, you will just have to wait until then.  The downside in this whole thing was I had never baked a cake that big before.  I had a pan that was perfect.  I would just need to bake two and then put them together.  No big deal right?  Wrong!  Your standard one batch of cake mix is not enough.  Lucky for me I have a husband whom always thinks of the smallest details before doing anything says to me, "Well sweetie, why don't just make a trial run just to see what you need?"  D'oh!  Why didn't I think of that.  Silly me.  I guess that is why I am the talent and he runs the business side.  So, any way last weekend I made the trial run of the red velvet cake.  I found out exactly what I needed and how long to bake it.  It came out great.  But now..... I have this 9 x 15 x 2 size cake with no where to really take it.  Then the light bulb went off. (Yes, I actually do see light bulbs and yes I know I am crazy.)  Cake Pops!  I ended up making 25 red velvet cake pops dipped in white chocolate.

I took the pops to work on Sunday.  Everyone who had one LOVED them.  But, this is the best part....... the co-worker whom I had to do this for looks at them as says, "Hey, do you think you could 50 of this for me for another party I am having?"  In the back of my head I am jumping up and done going "YES! YES! YES!", but I calmly say, "Of course I can.  When do you need them?" So, I will be making Cake Pops again in about 3 weeks.  Can't wait it is going to be so much fun.

But, wait there is more.....

I will be making a cake in the shape of Snoopy for this weekend coming up.  I asked to do this by another co-worker who had one of my pops.  I am really looking forward to making this cake since Snoopy is one of my favorite characters.  I also have the potential for two more cake orders and another order of the Cake Pops.  I'll let you know how those go.

So, as you can see it may not be a very big ball, but it seems to be getting bigger and moving a faster.  Let's keep our fingers cross that it just doesn't run me over.

Until next time....... Happy Baking!

Updates

I have recently had a few things happen in my life that has kept we away from doing two of my favorite things..... baking and blogging.  I THINK my life has settled down a bit...well as much as it can being the mother of a three year old, a wife, and a part-time employee at major retailer.  I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but I did let it get the better of me for a bit.

I did have two things happen in my baking world since last time.  I made cupcakes for a teenagers birthday this past weekend and I have an order for a graduation cake in June.

The cupcakes were a big hit.  The only down side was there wasn't enough.  The mom didn't expect as many as she did, so 2 dozen cupcakes went really fast.  Here is the final result:

They were half and half..yellow and chocolate with buttercream icing.

The graduation cake will be a red velvet cake and will be shaped like the front page of a newspaper.  I am going to decorated it with a graduation cap and the school mascot.  I plan on making them out of chocolate, so they will be edible.  I will post pictures of the completed product.

I will also have my daughter's birthday cake to do at the end of the month.  This year I need to be a little more creative.  She picked Clubhouse Mickey as her theme.  There is only one Mickey Mouse shaped cake pan that I could find and as cute as it is I want more for her.  So, I will need to brainstorm and out sketch out a few things.  I am a little worried I won't come up with something, but I can just here my friends all saying...."You know will think of something and it will be great."  I just hope so.  I am open to suggestions.

Last thing is this.  I was thinking of doing a little more with the blog itself.  It of course will still be baking and my baking adventures, but I was thinking of expanding it and possibly talking other things too.  Such as tips and links to other things I find on the web.  What do you think?  Please be honest with me and tell me I am insane.  Don't worry I can handle it.... I think.

Well, until next time....... Happy Baking!

Microphone Cupcakes

Over the last few weeks I have been seeing an increase of people finding my blog because of the microphone cupcakes I made.  Most of the people searching were looking for how to make them, so I was thinking I would make a quick post on how I actually made them.

Some of you may remember back in January I made microphone cupcakes for a 5 years old Justin Bieber themed birthday party.  Even though they were used for a children's party they could really be used for any music themed party.

Here is what I did:
     First, use your favorite cake (it can be from a box,I promise I won't tell) and just follow in the directions to make cupcakes.
     Second, you can make your own frosting or use one from the can.  Which ever you use might I suggest that you do not use a whipped frosting because you need a frosting that will harden a bit to hold the sprinkles on.  If you make you own, you of course can tinted it any color you want.  If you use the frosting from a can you have two options.  One, if you plan on using chocolate sprinkles and don't want to tint the frosting, you can use plain chocolate frosting.  But, if you are a little adventurous and want some color then use vanilla frosting and tint it any color you want.
     After the cupcakes cool, it is time for assembly.  This is where I learned a bit from trial and error.  So, hopefully by me telling you my mistakes it will help you not make them.  My biggest issue was finding a way to store and transport them.  Lucky for me I have a husband who is handy with wood and he made me a wooden box type thing to help me carry the cupcakes.  Hopefully, you won't be needing to take them anywhere and don't need anything like that.  So, if you just need to store them until party time, might I suggest cutting holes in a cake board, picture what vendors use to carry around the cotton candy at places.
     Ok, for the actually assembly of the microphones, I use plain old sugar wafer ice cream cones.  I happened to use the multi-colored ones, but of course you can use just the plain ones.  First thing I did was put some M & Ms in the bottom of each cone.  This helps with the balance of the cone since the finished product will be top-heavy.  You could use whatever candy you like.  I think it also gives an extra little treat.
     First, you need to put a little frosting on the inside of the cone to help hold the cupcake in place.  Place the cupcake in the cone and then finish frosting.  You want to make sure the cupcake is covered, but not too much.  After they are frosted, I just poured the sprinkles over the cone letting the sprinkles just stick to the frosting.  I happened to do each cone from beginning to end, you may choose to do it like an assembly line that is completely up to you.

    In the end your result should resemble this:

I hope this helps some of you out there in making your own microphone cupcakes.

Until next time...... Happy Baking!

Transformer Birthday Cake!

I was lucky enough to make a special little boy his birthday cake.  He wanted a Transformer cake.  So, I got to buy a new toy, a Transformer shaped cake pan.   Here is the final product:

The cake was a white cake with buttercream icing.  The entire cake was done with a No. 3 star tip.

I was told by the mother that the boy was very happy and thought it was very cool.  She also informed me that every one kept asking her where she got the cake, so she was great PR for me that day and handed out my business cards to everyone.  Keep you fingers crossed for me that I start getting more orders.

I also found out today that the Italian Cream Cake were also a big hit.  One woman said she loved it and she doesn't really care Italian Cream Cake. I was very happy to hear this since this was my first time making it. 

Until next time....... Happy Baking!

Might have more business

This week I was asked to make two Italian Cream Cakes for a new customer.  He is a Philly transplant like myself and we have talked several times about many different things.  He recently took over his family's pretzel business and has been thinking of expanding  some things.  He had a family get together this week and asked me to make the cakes.  I of course was delighted to.

It is a three layer cake with cream cheese icing, pecans, and coconut.

I have not found what they thought of them. I haven't needed to get any pretzels since I delivered them.  I don't want to jump ahead of myself, but I am hoping that this might turn into something more.  Send good thoughts, please.

Until next time.... Happy Baking!

Valentine's Day Treats

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I needed to make some sort of treat for my daughter's class.  The party itself was today.  So, for the longest time I couldn't decided what I want to make.  It didn't help that she was also snack girl for another day this week.  But, finally I decided to make brownie pops.  I did make them different then what most of the websites called for.  Instead of making the brownie balls and putting them on a stick, I cut out heart shapes with a cookie cutter.  Alton Brown would be proud of me for not letting something in my kitchen be an uni-tasker.  (Sorry for the reference to those of you who don't watch Food Network)  Any way here was the final result......

As you can see, I cut them in heart shapes and put them on a popsicle stick.  I then drizzled melted milk chocolate over the top and sprinkled them with candy hearts. 

I did have left over brownies which I did do the more traditional "pop".  I just made little balls with the leftover and put them in lollipop sticks.  I did dip some in chocolate while left others plain.  My daughter went after these right away.  She kept saying..."Mommy, I taste, I taste."  Of course being the great mom that I am, I let her have one of each.  She devoured them in a blink of an eye.  I will take it they were good then.  I didn't keep any for myself though.  I handed out the rest to my co-workers.  They all said they looked great.  So, I will see on Friday how they thought they tasted.

I do have a cake order for a birthday party in two weeks.  I get to make another transformer cake.  This time the "good guy" logo.  I will post pictures and tell you all about it next time.

Until next time.......Happy Baking!

OMG!

I know it has only been two days since my last, but I thought I would honor you with my presence again this week.  Sorry had to poke fun at myself.  I am really going to try to get back into the swing of things again.  Which means, you my faithful readers will be seeing more of me..... (I just hope I can come up with things to talk about).

Obviously, I haven't baked anything new, but as always I am searching the web for new ideas.  Nothing has jumped out at me recently.  Maybe I need to find some new websites.  I just keep seeing the same things over and over.  And I know my husband will never get tired of my chocolate chip cookies, but even he has to admit we need variety.

I did get some new toys to try out.  My mother decided to send me some baking tools for Christmas.  She sent me some of those silicone cake molds.  I now can make a giant cupcake, a three tiered present, a house and an American flag with little stars.  But, the best thing I got was a pan where I can make every letter and number just by moving pieces around.  The first thing I said was when I opened it was, "What letter can I make?"  But, I wasn't allowed.  I guess I need to wait until someone needs a letter cake.  So, anyone out there need a cake?  LOL!

I did find out one thing though.  The cake that I will be making next month will be another Transformer cake.  So, I will need to get out those star tips again.  Lucky for me I find decorating a cake that way therapeutic.  The only details I need now are what kind of cake and if they will need cupcakes or not.

Well until next time....... Happy Baking!

Microphone Cupcakes and Other Things

I feel like I am always apologizing for not posting a blog.  So, again I am sorry.  I just have been really busy working a job in retail and of course the holidays.  I hoping now that things are calming down at work, I should be able to get back into blogging and baking.  I did do a little bit of baking over the holidays and I will tell you all about them.

First, I made my PB and J snack bar for my Christmas holiday party.  They were well received by everyone.  I did have few that were disappointed that I didn't make my angel food cupcakes again, but they got over it.

This year I didn't have as many "gift" baskets to make this year with different things in them.  So, this year I only made about 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies and gave them to a few people.  But, because of them I will be making a birthday cake for a little boy next month.  I don't know what yet, we haven't worked out the details yet.  I also sent a dozen cookies to a dear friend in the Netherlands, unfortunately because of a bad winter storm here in the States and few storms that had parts of Europe shut down, after almost  two weeks she still doesn't have her cookies.  I just hope they are still edible by the time she gets them.

Lastly, I got to make some microphone cupcakes for a little 5 year girl who was having a Justin Bieber theme party.  She asked specifically for my strawberry margarita cake because it was "SOOOOOO good and it was Pink!"

There are not to hard to make.  It is just any cupcake you want to use, some icing and sprinkles.  As I already said the cake was strawberry margarita, the icing was butter cream tinted black, chocolate sprinkles and then sugar ice cream cones.  The hard part was trying to figure a way to get them to the party without incident.  It took some time, but with few of my ideas and my husband's ideas, we were able to come up with something and it worked out perfectly.

I'll let you know as things come up.

Until next time........ Happy Baking!